U.S. Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby said that approximately 20% of Russian forces north of Ukraine's capital Kyiv are repositioning, and they’re likely headed to Donbas.
“We have seen none of them reposition to their home garrison and that’s not a small point,” Kirby said in a press conference. “If the Russians are serious about de-escalating, because that’s their claim here, then they should send them home, but they’re not doing that.”
He said the Russian troops will likely reposition to Belarus to be resupplied before making their way to the Donbas region in Ukraine.
“It’s clear the Russians want to reprioritize their operations in the Donbas area,” Kirby said. He added that, although it’s too soon to tell if this repositioning is exactly what will happen, “Russians have said themselves they’re going to prioritize the Donbas region.”
Kirby said approximately 1,000 members of a Russian private military group, the Wagner Group, have been moved to Donbas already.
After Russia’s advances on Kyiv were stalled and Ukrainian forces retook control of nearby Irpin, Russian officials announced on March 29 that Russia would “radically” reduce its military activity around Kyiv and Chernihiv.
Ukrainian forces have since regained control of these areas only to discover the horrors left behind by Russian soldiers.
In Bucha northwest of Kyiv, mass graves were found and corpses in civilian clothing lined the streets. Some of the civilian corpses had their hands tied behind their backs and appeared to have been executed by Russian soldiers.
Bucha’s mayor said 280 bodies had been buried in mass graves. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of committing genocide in Ukraine.
United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a statement she was “horrified” by the images of dead civilians in Bucha.
“Reports emerging from this and other areas raise serious and disturbing questions about possible war crimes, grave breaches of international humanitarian law and serious violations of international human rights law,” she said.
The United States, Germany and France have said Russia’s actions in Ukraine amount to war crimes.
